24 OCTOBER-21 NOVEMBER 1962 QUARANTINE OF CUBA On the 14th of October, 1962, a high-flying Air Force U-2 reconnaissance plane photographed what appeared to be a missile base under construction at San Cristobal, Cuba. Shortly it was learned that Soviet Il-28 Read More
16-18 OCTOBER 1859 JOHN BROWN’S RAID From the 1830s, the American public became increasingly polarized over the issue of slavery. Violence erupted for the first time in Alton, Illinois, in November 1837, when an angry mob raided the home of Elijah Read More
100th ANNIVERSARY 10 OCTOBER 1923 USS SHENANDOAH COMMISSIONING The need to see beyond the horizon prompted militarists of the American Civil War to experiment with manned observation balloons. From these humble beginnings military lighter-than-air (LTA) technology approached its zenith in Read More
3 OCTOBER 1944 THE TRAGEDY OF SEAWOLF The Sargo-class fleet submarine SEAWOLF (SS-197) was a veteran of the Pacific war by this date, having served nearly continuously since the Pearl Harbor raid. The 71,608 tons of enemy shipping she had sent Read More
3 OCTOBER 1944 THE LOSS OF SHELTON (DE-407) On this day, Task Unit 77.4.3, affectionately known as “Taffy 3,” centered around the escort carriers FANSHAW BAY (CVE-70) and MIDWAY (CVE-63), was operating north of Morotai. The island had been taken quietly Read More
24-27 SEPTEMBER 1778 THE LOSS OF RALEIGH On December 13th, 1775, the Continental Congress issued our young nation’s first naval construction authorization, ordering that 13 frigates be built for the Continental Navy. Five of these were to be rated at 32 Read More
21-30 SEPTEMBER 1942 CONVOY RB-1 In the decades before practical automobile transportation, Americans traveling between cities of the eastern United States often did so by way of intercoastal steamer. Numerous private steamship companies offered passenger service on 200-400-foot, shallow draft screw Read More
13 SEPTEMBER 1847 “FROM THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA…” (cont.) Meanwhile, a diversion created by Quitman’s troops allowed a second Army division under MGEN Gideon J. Pillow to carry the lower walls of Chapultepec from the west. And, to the south, Quitman’s Read More
13 SEPTEMBER 1847 “FROM THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA…” By this date in the 17-month-old war with Mexico, the United States had gained control of California from San Francisco to Los Cabos in southern Baja. But complete victory in the war required Read More
8 SEPTEMBER 1923 DEVIL’S ELBOW DISASTER On the map of California one will notice a prominence north of Santa Barbara at which the coast takes a sharp turn to head nearly east/west for 80 miles. This prominence, bounded by Point Arguello Read More